WickedBruinsFan's Blog

I avoided writing about the Phil Kessel Saga all summer, and did a good job of ignoring it. The only time I talked about it is when somebody asks me what is going on with Kessel or if it comes up in conversation with other Bruins fans. Otherwise, I haven't batted an eyelash.

That ends today. It's no longer summer.

The media storm kicked up quite a bit overnight. There is a post on CBC.ca about how a Kessel experiment would fail for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The structure needed for Kessel is what he already has in Boston. The points Elliotte Friedman made were a bit eye-opening.

One of the great frustrations teammates had with Kessel two years ago was that he tried to carry the puck too much. He adjusted last season, understanding that he was best at going up and down the wing, full-tilt.

"He wants it in-stride, so he can just go," said one teammate.

But that same teammate - and others - warn that you must have certain pieces around him. And, without those pieces, a Kessel experiment would fail.

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It was much, much harder to convince Kessel that the extra work is necessary. There is still a feeling that he doesn't understand how important it is. One teammate said, "He is still young (22 in October), so he will figure it out." Others are not so charitable.

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One of the reasons he dropped down to fifth in the 2006 NHL Draft were suggestions that he was coddled and not receptive to criticism. That label remains. Julien's had a tough relationship with Kessel because that's not his style. (The two even fought about the kind of stick Kessel used.)

Then earlier this afternoon, Kevil Paul Dupont wrote that endgame is coming closer and it's about time. But where have all the offer sheets been prior to this week? That is if he gets one.

With everything coming to light in the past 24 hours, I wanted to share some examples I have seen over the past couple of seasons.

- In the seasons he's been here, nine of out ten times, Kessel has been the first one out after practice no matter when it during the season (excluding injured players). The contrast is captain Zdeno Chara working out for hours after practice is over. That's not to say Kessel doesn't work out, but he hasn't really gotten bigger over the seasons.

- Coach Julien and Kessel had a tough relationship. There were some moments where the relationship seemed good, like when Julien helped Kessel put on a jersey (in March). But back in February, Julien spoke to Kessel for quite some time away from the other players after practice. (Maybe that was the stick argument?)

- To read that Kessel wasn't going to play through his shoulder injury until he heard his teammates were playing through worse injuries is absurd. If you're a team player, you play through anything regardless if it's during the playoffs or not. Chuck Kobasew played with broken ribs. Mark Recchi played with kidney stones. Then you have Andrew Ference who finished his shift on one leg. Kessel was praised when he came back from cancer, but to not want to play through a shoulder injury that a good majority of players play through when it matters, speaks volumes about his character.

Over the past couple of months, the feedback from Bruins fans has been on both sides of the fence. Some don't want him to go, others can't get rid of him fast enough. I was a middle-of-the-road type, seeing both sides, but when it comes down to it, the Bruins don't have the cap space for Kessel. It's as simple as that for me. When you don't have the money, you don't get the high-priced item.

Why should the Bruins trade one or two (likely two) pieces away to make cap space for Kessel? Say Chiarelli trades two roster players for the cap space, and Kessel only fills one of the vacant spaces, what happens to the other space, which would probably be on the blue line?

The easier thing is to trade Kessel's rights or let him go via an offer sheet. The goals will come from other players who don't get the ice time because Kessel had it. The power play time alone that will be available when Kessel isn't here will give somebody the chance to score more goals on the man-advantage.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how many goals a player has. It matters when they're scoring them and if those goals are game-winners. (I'm not overlooking the fact that Kessel had many game-winners in shootouts.)

Salary matters in the salary cap world, and if a player is only known for scoring goals and lacks a rounded game (example is killing penalties) then is he really worth $5 million?

I hope the Kessel saga is resolved by October. There was enough Kessel talk over the summer. It's time to focus on the 2009-2010 season.